Zohar-Hunter of the Horn
by SnoopyGal327
Summary: Chapter 2 up- I know it's kinda quick, but I already had it planned in my head. Chapter 3's going to be hard...I'm not sure where to go next.
1. The streets of Tear

Zohar blinked as the sun hit her eyes in a sudden way. She moved through the crowd of people within the overfilled streets. Always wary of strangers, Zohar kept her eyes open. Her eyes slid past the hawkers and the merchants; their cries filling the already noisy streets. Children did not run here. They did not laugh and play, but rather they looked fearfully up from their mother's skirts with wide bright eyes, hoping against hope to find a friendly face. 'Fear attracts the fearful' her mother always said.  
  
A sudden longing filled Zohar as she thought of her mother. Back in Illian her mother had always been there to give her advice when she needed it. Now…well, she wasn't going to think about that. Zohar gave herself a mental shake for being so silly. That was all behind her. What she needed to concentrate on at the moment was the Horn.  
  
Zohar had been a Hunter of the Horn for barely a month and still found nothing. But she wasn't giving up hope. She had a better chance of finding it then those stupid men. Memory suddenly flared as Zohar remembered herself in the streets of Illian taking the oath. She had knelt with thousands of others; one more person had not mattered in the least to anyone. At least being a Hunter had been more exciting than her old life had ever been.  
  
The daughter of a merchant, Zohar had always expected to inherit her father's profession until the unfortunate accident that had killed both of her parents. Having no other place to go, and having no real desire to continue her father's profession, Zohar had decided to hunt for the Horn. As a child, Zohar had always loved to listen to the endless versions of The Great Hunt of the Horn. She would sneak out of their house to go see the gleemen in town and listen with wonder for hours. The heroes and their daring deeds fascinated. Zohar was certain that one day, a gleeman would put her name down in the next epic story of the Horn.  
  
Quietly, Zohar slipped into an Inn called, "The Jumping Jack" and sat down at a table in the corner. Within a few minutes, a serving maid brought her a cup of some vile liquid she didn't even want to taste. She paid the maid little attention; she had always hated pretty girls who flaunted themselves. Sipping the liquid without really paying notice to taste Zohar looked throughout the room with heavy lidded eyes.  
  
Zohar knew the key to being a Hunter of the Horn. It didn't take strength as many men proclaimed, though that was a small part of it. It took cunning and cleverness to be a Hunter. Wisdom to seek out the good and bad leads and know the difference between the two and courage to go follow them. Zohar had both of those.  
  
Her eyes swept the room silently. "I'm tellin' you! It just ain't possible for a man to do that! It must a' been some kinda…creature!" One man was telling another excitedly. The other man just shook his head and they continued to argue. A group of sailors were in conversation at another table. They twitched around and seemed to look over their shoulders often. As usual with these taverns, there was a group of loud gamblers laughing and drinking. They seemed…out of place compared to the other people in the tavern.  
  
The city of Tear had been…uneasy lately. The citizens were restless and suspicious. Everyone looked at each other crossways and trusted no one; not even their own neighbors. Gossip and wild rumors flew about the city, all talking about strange creatures and people come from the Aiel Waste. Zohar believed none of them. That was the first rule to survive in the world; trust no one. Or at least, that was what her mother had always told her. 


	2. The chase

Zohar suddenly noticed two men sitting in the corner of the tavern. They were talking quietly in low voices looking around suspiciously. Not that that was odd in Tear these days, but still…Zohar couldn't take her eyes off of them. One had brown hair tied back in a ponytail, but a non-descript face otherwise. The other looked to be a Guardsman of some type, though it was hard to tell. The golden knots as his shoulder marked him a high-ranking officer.  
Now what would those two be doing together? Zohar thought. It was strange to see those types even conversing with one another. She continued to watch them without really seeming to watch them. She had been a master at this when working with her father to try and catch thieves. The serving maid came again with more of the drink; the Light knew what it was! The soft harp music of the performer and the low steady buzz of the people sank into Zohar.  
When the two men abruptly got up from their table to go, Zohar decided on a whim to follow them. That was the way with a Hunter. Pick up and pursue whatever opportunity presented itself. After a few minutes, Zohar was out in the streets trailing the two men. After a couple of blocks, the man with brown hair went off into the crowd of people of in streets. Zohar silently cursed under her breath. Now who to follow? She choose to go after the Guardsman. He would probably lead her to a more interesting trail anyway.  
Carefully dodging the many people in the streets, Zohar expertly tailed him. Beginning to lose his head in the crowd, she sped up and bumped into people. It was never good let herself be noticed, but she couldn't lose the man! She didn't know why, he was most likely just a plain Guardsman, but she felt herself being drawn towards this man, for some inexplicable reason. She began to run faster thought the horde of people; she couldn't even see him anymore.  
Zohar stopped at a fruit seller's stand and jumped up and down in an effort to find him. No sign of the Guardsman. She cursed under her breath again, and fruit seller looked at her oddly. Zohar ignored him and blindly chose a way down the street. Turn after turn after turn; she began to lose track of them all. Now she was never going to find that man!  
Panting, she twisted into an alley to catch her breath. It was no use now; she might as well give up and go find another tavern. As Zohar was panted, she looked up on the roof to see an unwelcome surprise- three Aiel jumping down from the roof. Zohar assumed they were Aiel; she had never really seen one in person, but she had heard stories that were mostly fairytales, though some credible. Aiel were supposed to be tall with bright hair and eyes. They were also supposed to be incredible fighters; that much was known from the Aiel War, but here in Tear south of the real fighting, no one really knew much else.  
Tensing her muscles, Zohar prepared to fight the Aiel, not that she had much chance against three of them, much less one. She wasn't prepared to fight in this condition either! After a long run, her legs felt like water. She drew her daggers from her pockets and before the Aiel were even on top of her, she threw one at the closest. It was a bad shot; it only hit him in the arm and he completely ignored it. Throwing her second dagger, she entirely missed any of them. Light, but she was tired!  
As they advanced even further on her, spears ready and poised, she knew the fight was already over. It was useless to try, but she attempted to reach the daggers hidden in her boots. It was a feeble attempt. She watched with horror as they loomed over her. But instead of striking her with the point of their spears as she expected, they knocked her out of the butt of the spear. She was out immediately and knew nothing but darkness.  
  
Ahhh…I'm working on the next part, but I'm having some trouble so be patient! Please R&R…I'm begging you!!!! 


End file.
